One political veteran of Little Saigon calls Janet Nguyen the choice of the “silent majority.”

Trung Nguyen got the endorsement of political big man Van Tran and virtually all the rest of the county’s Vietnamese-American elected officials. But Janet must have had something going for her to squeak out a three-vote victory in the dramatic Feb. 6 county supervisor’s election, which seems to be finally decided.

“Those who voted for Janet are sort of the silent majority,” said Chuyen Nguyen. “People who aren’t really involved in inside politics. People who support the underdog.”

Chuyen is a one-time Republican who changed parties and then spent eight years as an aide to state Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, until Dunn was termed out of office. None of the aforementioned Nguyens, of course, are directly related.

Chuyen doesn’t hesitate to point out that Janet’s foes included many heavyweight Republicans. Tran and nearly all the Vietnamese-Americans officials who endorsed Trung are Republican. Carlos Bustamante had the backing of three sitting Republican supervisors and the venerable GOP Lincoln Club.

“I think Janet should switch parties, because the Republican Party won’t protect her,” he said, only partially in jest.

With Vietnamese Americans leading the GOP charge into the largely Democrat-controlled central part of the county, Dems could use a few good candidates from Little Saigon.

Conundrums

Rebuilding bridges with Tran, OC GOP boss Scott Baugh and others is only part of the challenge facing Janet Nguyen, according to Christian Collet, who’s writing a book on Little Saigon politics.

“Janet’s apparent instincts for pragmatism may tell her to focus … on a crossover constituency, like non-Vietnamese or Democrats,” said Collet, who’s known the 30-year-old supervisor for 10 years or so. “Doing so is problematic because most Vietnamese-American and Republican voters place a high value on loyalty.”

Janet grew up here in California and her first language is English, which hasn’t always endeared her to Little Saigon. And how she handles her new, increased public profile could also alienate some in that community, Collet said.

“Should Janet continue to attract attention, regardless of whether the news is good or bad, it could ultimately undermine her political standing,” he said. “In Hollywood, they say (that) any publicity is good publicity. In Little Saigon, the opposite seems to hold true, particularly for the young politicians who are expected to listen but not be heard.”

Tran hooks Londono

Sharp young politico Saulo Londono ran Lynn Daucher‘s absentee ballot drive last year, which nearly led to an upset of Lou Correa in the central county’s state Senate race. Londono then was campaign manager for Trung’s supervisor bid and nearly pulled off an upset there after one of the most relentless, well-researched and effective absentee voter drives I’ve seen. Now he’s been hired as a district representative for Tran. It’s not surprising that Tran wants to keep him close at hand.

Best dressed

Maybe Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s spirit of bipartisanship really is rubbing off on legislators. A survey of the Democrat-controlled Legislature – answers were used on a Family Feud-style fundraiser for the YMCA – found that Assemblywoman Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Niguel, was the best dressed female legislator. Most likely to become the next governor? L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, followed by former GOP legislator Tony Strickland, and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome.

Political datebook

Tuesday

6 p.m.The Orange County chapter of the National Association of Women meeting. Irvine Water District Offices 15600 Sand Canyon Ave. Irvine. www.nowoc.org

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